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GLEN PARK NEWSGLEN PARK NEWSOfficial Newspaper of the Glen Park Association

www.glenparkassociation.org

Published Quarterly

Winter 2007/2008

Glen Park Association Meeting NoticeTuesday, January 15, 2008, 7 p.m.

St. Johns School, 925 Chenery St.

Election of Association Officers for 2008Department of Parking and TrafficPossible Pilot Program to

Test New Parking Controls in Glen Park Village

Volume 25, No. 4

It cost $5.5 million and was eightyears in the planning,four in the building. But

Glen Parks very ownlibrarythe first non-rental space it has ever

knownfinally opened.Saturday, Oct. 13 marked a new

beginning for Glen Park with the GrandOpening celebration for the branch.

The day dawned clear and bright,an appropriate portent for the day GlenPark had been awaiting seeminglyforever. Restaurants may make us a

destination and the market makes usa fully functional neighborhood, but alibraryespecially such a big, beautifullibrarygives us a center.

While Glen Park has had a librarybranch since January 1927, until nowit had never has a library-owned space.The previous five sites were all rented,and because of that the library hasbeen forced to pack up and move fourtimes.

This time the move was the librarysdecision, into a grand and glorious newspace that is six times larger than theprevious library around the corner onChenery Street, now home to Bird &Beckett Books. The new library, locatedon the second floor with large windowsoverlooking the neighborhood, sportsone-third more books, 16 computersrather than three, free wireless Internetaccess, a dedicated childrens area anda community meeting room.

Its all courtesy of the BranchLibrary Improvement Program, thefruit of a $105.9 million bond mea-sure passed by San Francisco voters inNovember 2000. The program set offthe largest building campaign in San

Francisco library history. All told, 17branches will be renovated, four leasedfacilitiesone of them Glen Parkwillbe replaced with City-owned buildings,two branches will be replaced with newbuildings, and one brand-new branch

has been built in Mission Bay, the firstnew City branch library in 40 years.San Franciscans are clearly thrilled

with the results of that massive over-haul program, as library staff learnedfrom previous library openings. Whenthe Excelsior branch opened on July 9,2005, the massive crowd, which spilled

Final Chapter:

The Glen ParkLibrary Opens

A woman who told authorities shewas raped and mugged last month in

Glen Park has recantedher story, police told theGlen Park News.Im grateful she cameforward and told the

truth, said Capt. Denis OLeary, com-manding officer of Ingleside Station,which has jurisdiction over Glen Park.

The reported crime had theneighborhood on edge, with manyresidents scared to walk down thestreet because the alleged assailants

byRachelGordon

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10


Rape VictimRecants Story,

NeighborhoodRelieved

by

ElizabethWeise

Ribbon cutters included former Glen Park librarian Sharon Dezurick, Mayor Gavin Newsom, unidentified girl, Donna Bero ofFriends of the Library and City Librarian Luis Herrera. Photo by Michael Waldstein

off the sidewalk and into the street, tookeveryone by surprise.

But the library staff were ready forGlen Park library patrons. Diamond andWilder streets were blocked off front-ing the library, and several thousand

people crowded the streets, waiting forthe moment when they could storm thestairs and finally see their new library.

District 8 Supervisor Bevan Duftyled off the days speakers by telling thegrowing crowd that Oct. 10 had beenMayor Gavin Newsoms 40th birthday.

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Glen Park News Page 2 Winter 2007/2008Glen Park News Page 2

The mission of the Glen Park Association is to promote the collective

interests of all persons living in Glen Park, to inform and educate aboutneighborhood and citywide issues, to promote sociability and friend-ships and to support beneficial neighborhood projects.

GPA Board of Directors and Officers for 2007

President Michael Rice [email protected]

Vice-President Jeff Britt [email protected]

Treasurer Dennis Mullen 239-8337

Recording Secretary Kim Watts 902-4767Corresponding Secretary Tiffany Farr 215-2320Membership Secretary Heather World

[email protected] & Environment Michael Ames

[email protected] Improvement John Walmsley 452-0277Glen Park News Elizabeth Weise 908-6728

[email protected] Safety Volunteer needed

[email protected] & Park Richard Craib 648-0862Traffic, Parking & Transportation Volunteer needed

[email protected] & Planning D. Valentine

[email protected] Volunteer needed

Glen Park News2912 Diamond St. #407

San Francisco, CA 94131(415) 908-6728

[email protected]

Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Weise

Deputy Editor Rachel Gordon

Photo Editor Liz Mangelsdorf

Design Editor Mary Mottola

Copy Editor Denis Wade

Advertising Nora Dowley

Reporters Gail Bensinger

Dolan Eargle

Ashley Hathaway

Miriam Moss

Paula Levine

Joanna Pearlstein

Karen Peteros

Evelyn Rose

Jennie Z. Rose

Denise Sanderson

Emma Bland Smith

Bonnie Wach

Bonnee Waldstein

Columnists Vince Beaudet

Bevan Dufty

Susan Evans

Ric LpezMichael Walsh

Photographers Paula Levine

Ellen Rosenthal

Michael Waldstein

Glen Park NewsThe Glen Park News is pub-lished quarterly by the GlenPark Association.

Signed articles are the opin-ions of the authors and notnecessarily those of the GlenPark Association.

To advertise in the GlenPark News call 908-6728or e-mail [email protected].

From the Editors

The past year has brought a lot ofchanges to Glen Park.

Just look at the commercial heartof the village. Canyon Market, whichrecently marked its one-year anniver-sary, has taken root in the neighborhood;upstairs, the new branch library finallyopened to high expectations and ravereviews. Librarian Denise Sandersontook over as branch manager. We wishher success.

A fire displaced the framing shop,and business decisions resulted in the

closure of The Bug childrens consign-ment shop and the Paragraph boutique.But the empty storefronts they leftbehind arent expected to be vacantlong, with new businesses readying tomove in.

Two popular full-service restau-rants openedLe Ptit Laurent andGialinasfurther cementing GlenParks growing reputation as a dining

destination. Eggettes has turned into afavored hangout for the teen and tween

sets. La Corneta is standing-room-onlymost lunch and dinner times. Still,Tyger s remains king when it comes toout-the-door lines on weekends.

In Glen Canyon Park, we finallygot some good news with the additionof a full-time custodian, Glen Loi. Hiswork cleaning the rec center bathroomsand maintaining the grounds nearby hasnot gone unnoticed, and is much appre-ciated. What a difference a dedicated

person with a mop and broom makes.We bade farewell to our admired

and hard-working top cop in GlenPark, Capt. Paul Chignell, command-ing officer of Ingleside Station. Hewas replaced by Capt. Denis OLeary,a veteran of the San Francisco PoliceDepartment who promises to work inpartnership with the community.

Crime continues to be a concern inGlen Park. There have been a number

of strong-arm robberies and a carjack-ing over the past year. It is imperativethat we in Glen Park keep pressure onMayor Gavin Newsom, SupervisorBevan Dufty, District Attorney KamalaHarris and the rest of our elected repre-

Glen Park Association News

FIRST EDITION JUNE 1975 --The Glen Park Association proudly

presents its first news-letter.

That first editionan8-by-11, four-pagenewsletterwas thefirst item I came across

in a Glen Park Association file boxstowed in my garage. About 10 boxeshave been in my care since the Recre-ation and Park Department took backa storage space under the stage of the

Glen Park Recreation Center.The four-page edition morphed

into a four-page (typed!) tabloid by1976. In 1977, The Glen Park Per-spectivewith the eucalyptus grovelogo we still have on the Glen ParkNewswas a four- to eight-pagenewsprint monthly. I found a binderof 1977 GPA board and general meet-ing agendas and minutes, along withfolders of glossy photos of neighbor-

hood events and people.What do you see in these

archives? Well, GPA dues started outas $1 minimum per member peryear. The first two GPA committeeswere Traffic, and Zoning & Planning.The branch library was on Diamond

byMichael

Rice

Street, and there was concern whenthe rent was going to be $650 per

month. Glenridge Co-OperativeNursery School in the park had fall1975 openings.

By May 1976, the TwelfthEdition reported on the potentialdevelopment of 20,000 square feet ofcommercial space, and 36 apartments,along Bosworth, Kern and Diamondstreets. (That site, of course is stillin play as part of the 2003 Glen ParkCommunity Plan.) May 1976 also

advertised, HIGHER GROUNDS AT LAST! GLEN PARKS 1STCOFFEEHOUSE. The phone num-ber was 587-2832: KUP-A-TEA.

BART access 1976: The apart-ment buildings/retail spaces south oftodays Young De Restaurant on Dia-mond Street was then a BART-ownedkiss-and-ride lot for 12 cars.

In September 1978, Hal and SusanTauber bought Glen Park Hardware

from Ed Josephson, with a photoof the happy new business owners.Another story about BART discussedplans to use the BART-owned loton Arlington Street for a 75-spacekiss-and-ride lot, to ease rush

Join theGlen Park Association

Only $10 per person.

PO Box 31292San Francisco, CA 94131

or online atwww.glenparkassociation.org

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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Winter 2007/2008 Page 3 Glen Park NewsPage 3 Glen Park News

Letter tothe EditorDearGlen Park News,

Does having a nursery school inthe park improve the neighborhood?Joan Siewald asked this question in theFall Edition of the Glen Park News aspart of her letter concerning the recentgrowth in our community. While I cansympathize with her concerns regardingthe BART proposal, I hope readers willagree that having a place in our neigh-borhood where we can instill the values

of nature and community in our childrenis a benefit to all.

Having Glenridge Co-op NurserySchool in the park has many imme-diate and long-term benefits for ourneighborhood, as well as the city ofSan Francisco. Glenridge parents bringthe same level of enthusiasm they havefor their preschool into the Glen Parkneighborhood.

They deliver the local newspaper,

start neighborhood watches, join PTAsand support Glen Park businesses, evenafter their children have moved on toelementary schools. Check the line atLa Corneta, and you will see Glenridgefamilies. They get their hair cut at ParkSalon, buy cheese at the Cheese Bou-tique, eat at Chenery Park on Tuesdays.Glenridge families also participate incommunity events like the Glen ParkFestival and Family Fun Fest.

Glenridge families respect the Can-yon so much that only one percent ofour population ever drive in. (Throughself-monitoring, parents only drive into pick up a sick child or bring heavysupplies.)

The frequent foot traffic of parentsand children trekking in and out of thecanyon make it safer for dog walkers,joggers and bird watchers. Each year,

staff members from the school providefirst aid to individuals who didnt see alow-hanging branch or got stung by abee. They rescue lost dogs and searchout their owners. They dispose of bro-

ken bottles and pick up litter from thecanyon.

Having the building occupied full-time prevents costly vandalism fromoccurring. When graffiti appears onthe school, parents make sure that itis painted quickly, preventing it frombecoming an eyesore in the canyon.

The school community also makesimprovements to the building, ulti-mately saving tax dollars that would be

necessary to make the same improve-ments. In the last few years, we haveapplied for and received grants to installnew windows with metal shutters, newfloors throughout the building, and adouble oven.

Besides these immediate benefits,Glenridges setting provides interac-tions with nature that help childrenbecome enthusiastic and inquisitivenaturalists. Children who have the

opportunity to go to preschool in thecanyon learn that nature is a sourceof endless interest and excitement.One of our goals for the children is toencourage the development of positivefeelings toward nature and to lay thegroundwork for a lifetime of respectfor nature.

Rather than regard the preschoolas another example of unwelcomegrowth in Glen Park, I would hope that

Ms. Siewald see the school as a meansto preserve the things we most value inour neighborhood. If we dont instill alove of nature and community in ourkids, who knows how that may affectGlen Park in the future.

Kathleen TraceyGlen Park residentMom to Henry, Glenridge Class of 08

hour congestion and double parkingon Diamond Street. BART plannersalso proposed a contract for jitneyservice between the station and areas

not well served by Muni. (We are stilldealing with this congestion; and whatabout the mini-bus service idea?)

The same edition also announcedthe proposed new Continental Savingsand Loan building at Bosworth andChenery streets, site of a former gasstation. In March 1979, the Perspec-tive, Volume IV, number X, il lustratedthe remarkable plan to purchase andmove most of an 1871 Victorian build-

ing slated to be demolished in theWestern Addition, to be restored as theupper floors of the new S&L. Sadly,the plan was not feasible. Instead wenow have the Citibank building, whichwas designed with a strong Victorianstyle.

Membership cost $2 per year in1979, and a classified ad that Junelisted a Sunny 2 bdrm house withview. Convenient Glen Park loca-

tion $325 + utilities.The GPA board and membership

meeting minutes in those years recordconcerns about parking in residentialareas, traffic speeds and stop signs,Muni service, maintenance in theparks, and street tree planting. Shallwe just say dj vu?

Some things have changed for thebetter, though: the September 1978board minutes note that there is a dire

GPA NewsCONTINUED FROM PAGE 2


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Glen Park News Page 4 Winter 2007/2008

byJennie Z.

Rose

Skunks, rabbits, gophers, red-tailed

hawks, owls, raccoons and the two coy-otes spotted this summerand fall call Glen Can-yon Park home. We allgenerally coexist with-out interacting. Thearrangement seems to

work out fine: We go inside at night,and the wildlife has the decency to stayout of sight during the day.

But when a gorgeous coyote pup

kangaroo-hopped into Janet Kesslerslife at dawn last summer on Twin Peaks,it was the beginning of an unusual kindof courtshipone that has spawned avery local best-seller.

Over the course of many months,the animal, looking like a skinny littledog, made playful overtures to Kessler

and her own dog by bounding toward

them, then scooting away as if to invitechase. She then hunkered down about50 feet away on the trail with rear raisedin the universal sign for Lets play!

She never came right up to me;she stayed a certain distance, but shedid stay around, observed Kessler,who named the animal Myca, shortfor my coyote.

When we sat down on the ground,she sat down too. She wanted to get to

know us. My opinion is that this was achild coyote, a pup, and her curiosityovercame her judgment.

Kessler was so taken with Myca thatshe signed up for a photo class so shecould catch the essence of the coyotespersonality on film. She has now pro-

A True Story of Puppy Love

Inspired by Friendly Coyote

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Myca, the Twin Peaks coyote. Photo by Janet Kessler

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Winter 2007/2008 Page 5 Glen Park News

Led by the Gum Tree Girls

40 Years Ago, Glen Park

Won War Against Freeway

byGail

Bensinger

Zoanne Nordstrom vividly remembersthe day four decades agowhen she found the mandigging a hole in GlenCanyon Park.Nordstrom had taken

her 18-month-old son toplay in the park, as usual, and she askedthe hole-digger what he was doing. Heanswered that he was making a test bor-

ing for the new freeway viaduct that wasgoing through the park. I said, Thehell it is, she recalled.

She quickly linked up with twoother neighborhood moms equallyopposed to the new route, which wouldhave required removal of at least 180mature trees and put both the play-ground and baseball diamond next toor under heavy traffic.

Nordstrom, Joan Seiwald and Geri

Arkush were dismissively dubbed TheGum Tree Girls by pro-freeway CityEngineer Clifford Geertz. Gum tree is acommon name for the blue gum eucalyp-tusthe trees forming a park windbreak thatwould be at risk under the Citys plan.

The mid-1960s was an era of citizenactivism, with the civil rights movementunderway and the anti-war movementjust beginning. It was also the tail endof the massive road-building program

known as the Interstate Highway Sys-tem, which brought high-speed trafficinto most major American cities.

In San Francisco and elsewhere,city residents fed up by the automo-biles-first policies promoted by thehighway engineers pushed back. Here,local forces managed to block one new

highway through the Golden Gate Parkpanhandle and another in Glen Park.

The plan they had for San Fran-cisco, it was like L.A. It was like everymile-and-a-half, there was a freeway,Nordstrom told the Glen Park News. Itwas like a snake, a hydra of roads.

Before finally giving up on the wholeidea, City officials modified their plansfrom an elevated freeway to a parkway,

to a plan for broadening OShaughnessyBoulevard and eliminating a dangerouscurve where it meets Bosworth. In 1967,after years of disputes and protests, theCity finally threw in the towel, and thehigh capacity roadway idea was aban-doned. This year marks the 40th anniver-sary of the neighborhood victory.

Yet that outcome was anythingbut assured as the trio of housewives,with 11 kids among them, got to work.

Arkush died in 1999, but both Seiwaldand Nordstrom still have scrapbooksthey compiled of newspaper clippingsand letters sent and received. Bothwomen say today the three of themdidnt know what to do at first. Theyall learned quicklyideas flowed fromone to another, Seiwald said.

They began a letter-writing cam-paign to all 11 members of the Boardof Supervisors, then-Mayor John

Shelley, politicians in Sacramento andWashington, TV and radio stations, Cityofficials. They appealed to developersthen building on Diamond Heights,pointing out that the views of the parkfrom atop the hilla major selling pointof the new homeswould be damagedby an elevated viaduct.

They wrote letters to the editors ofthe three most prominent local newspa-pers, the Chronicle, theExaminerand the

Progress. Eventually the Progress tookup their cause in editorials.

In a memoir that Seiwald wrote atthe time, she said that at the outset theonly real encouragement we receivedwas from our husbands. But they per-severed, drumming up opposition in theneighborhood from people fed up withfreeways. No City money had yet beenappropriated, she wrote, and the threeGlen Park women were determined that

if we had to tie our children to the trees,we were going to save our park.They formed a Save the Park Com-

mittee, with Nordstrom as chairwoman.The themes in all their public appeals,Seiwald said, were natural beauty,retention of the middle class in thecity, saving the park for future genera-

tions and the planned destruction of ourneighborhood.

Nordstrom said City officialsexpected to get their way because thisneighborhood was very heterogeneous,and it wasnt full of rich people who

care.The trio buttonholed every group

they could think of, including churchesand PTAs. Eventually, their publicitycampaign began to produce resultsitwas an election year, and some supervi-sorswho in those days ran citywideand not by districtoffered support.

If conventional approaches didntwork, they tried humor to win sympathyfor their cause. Nordstrom remembers

bringing lunch, including a thermos ofmartinis, to then-Supervisor GeorgeMoscones office. When he asked howmany neighborhood residents they hadbehind them, Nordstrom told him in herbest stage whisper, upwards of 50,000.

The actual number was a lot smaller,of course. But when they organized ameeting at Glen Park School to protestthe freeway plan, on Nov. 9, 1965, about400 people showed up, most of them

pro-park and anti-freeway.Even if Joan and Geri and I were the

spearhead people, it was a community effortthat really worked, Nordstrom said.

In the lobby of the new Glen ParkLibrary there is a photo of the Gum TreeGirls as part of its artwork. As a formerlong-time president of the Glen ParkAssociation, Nordstrom dogged themarket-library project until it becamea reality.

People said, Oh, you cant fightCity Hall. I said, No, you have totry, or you deserve what happens toyou. Thats kind of always been mymotto, she said. And if you try andmake an effort, and it doesnt work, atleast youll know that you tried, anddid your best. n

Image courtesy San FranciscoChronicle

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Gustatory Gaps in Glen ParkShrink with Pasta and SushiGlen Park is all grown up. A more-

humble-than-haute neighborhood ageneration ago, the areaaround Chenery and Dia-mond began to morph intoa culinary destination in2000, with the opening of

Chenery Park, now a local institution.The year 2007 saw the coming

of Gialina and Le Ptit Laurent, andalthough both have been talked aboutcitywide (Ive had friends drive in from

the East Bay to try our hoods famousnew pizza), locals are the most enthu-siastic supporters.

Happily, Glen Parkers can lookforward to the opening of two morerestaurants in the next few months. Ifthe roaring success of their predeces-sors is any indication (anyone whoswitnessed the crowds waiting for tableson Diamond Street would agree), thenew competitors wont be hurting for

business.The first to open will be a Japanese-

Latin fusion restaurant located at 678Chenery St. Ric Lpez, owner of Mod-ern Past and president of the Glen ParkMerchants Association, reports thatthe opening of Sanghawhich means

a gathering or community of people in

Sanskritis imminent, although he washesitant to name a date for fear of disap-pointing readers. The menu will featureclassic sushi as well as other Japanesedishes with a twist. Sangha will offermoderate-priced lunches, a fine-diningdinner experience, a wine menu and agreat sake selection. Locals will beable to call in orders for pick-up.

Manhal Jweinat, owner of HigherGrounds since 1982, reports that the

inspections for his upcoming project,in the old Bird & Beckett space at 2788Diamond, are under way. This newfamily friendly addition to the neigh-borhood will have the feel and menu ofa comfortable Italian trattoria, offeringpastas and other casual dishes. Jweinatstudied in Italy for six years, workingin restaurants to support himself. Jokingthat his moonlighting clearly has servedhim better than his art degree, Jweinat

says that he is looking forward to tak-ing on the role of head chef, supportedby a second, at this new locale, whilecontinuing to manage Higher Grounds.The Italian restaurant will serve dinneronly. Jweinat expects it to open in thespring. n

byEmmaSmith

Our own Cheyenne Loftinturned97 on Sunday, Nov. 18. If youvespent any time in the village youveseen Cheyenne, a steady figure mak-ing his early morning way from hishouse at Lippard and Chenery downto Tygers for breakfast, or sittingoutside at a neighborhood caf takingthe sun. Cheyenne spent many yearsworking with cattle, as his cowboyboots and hat attest. Hal and SusanTauber of Glen Park Hardware havea card out for birthday wishes forCheyenne. We send our best wishesalong as well.

Our condolences to Joanne, whoseflowers at the Glen Park BART sta-tion have gladdened so many hearts.Joannes husband died suddenly andunexpectedly in October. She spentmuch of November shutting down the

couples other flower shop but is nowback at BART. Our thoughts are withher and her family. Congratulations to our official

Glen Park Branch Librarian, DeniseSanderson! As of mid-November,her title no longer includes the wordActing. That s only fitting, consid-ering the work shes done these pastmany months to guide the librarysmove to its new quarters.

Did you know Glen Park has itsown entry in Wikipedia, the onlineencyclopedia? The entry hasntbeen updated in awhile (its still gotthe library under construction) butsomeones done a nice bit of workthere. If youve got items to add to it,in the Wikipedia tradition, the addressis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Park,_San_Francisco,_California.

And a final bit of trivia: WhatGlen Park landmark is the size ofthe Queen Mary?

Answer: The BART station. If

the underground portion was turnedon its side, it would be as high as theTransamerica building. n

Neighborhood News and Notes

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With the high price of gasoline and

growing awareness of global warming,theres a new focus onlocaleat local food andsupport local businesses.Glen Park families also canextend the concept to local

schools. The area is home to four publicelementary schools.

With the Jan. 11 deadline looming forparents and guardians to apply to the SanFrancisco Unified School District, the local

elementary schools deserve a look.The area is also home to two Catholic

schools, which have separate applicationprocedures.

When applying to a public school, eachstudent can list up to seven desired schools.Some families get turned away from all theirchoices. However, for the current schoolyear, 87 percent of kindergarten applicantsgot one of their top picks.

Just because a child lives in a par-

ticular neighborhood doesnt mean he orshe automatically will be assigned to theschool closest to home. The San FranciscoUnified School District strives to givefamilies a choice of where to send theirchildren, but in the end the districts goalis to achieve a demographic balance ateach campus. That said, if a family picksa neighborhood school, and the childsdemographic profile meets the districtsdesire, he or she will be given preference

over someone from outside the area.Over the past five years, the demandfor the elementary schools in or closestto Glen Park has been steadily increas-ingone of the strongest indicators thattheir reputations are on the rise.

In 2003, for example, 79 students

requested Glen Park Elementary in

Round One of the application process;this year the number was 136. Sun-nyside Elementary saw its number ofapplicants rise from 41 to 94 during thatsame period. At Fairmount Elementarythe number rose from 151 to 261, and atMiraloma Elementary the number nearlyquadrupled, jumping from 84 to 320.

With the exception of Sunnyside,the Academic Performance Index (API)for area schools improved in the most

recent ranking. The API, considered bythe California Department of Educationas the cornerstone of the states PublicSchools Accountability Act of 1999,measures academic performance andhow schools measure up when com-pared with one another.

Glen Park Elementary bumped pastthe crucial 800 markthe statewideperformance targetin the last APIranking, scoring 801.

Eight hundred is what everyoneaims for, and we hit that, said GlenPark Principal Marion Grady, voicingpride in the achievement.

As for the other area schools:Miraloma hit 767, up 69 points from theprevious year; Fairmount reached 705, anincrease of 19; and Sunnyside dropped to755, down 23 from the year before.

While the API ranking is an impor-tant indicator, it is by no means the only

one to judge whether a school should beconsidered. Grady, who has been GlenParks principal for 25 years, has moreto boast about:

We have a school thats clean,that has kids who are engaged, teach-

Schools In and Near Glen ParkGet Big Spike in Applications

byRachelGordon

Glen Park Elementary School. Drawing by Eleanor Murphy-Weise, age 6.


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byElizabeth

Weise

Glen Park Association MeetingSFPD Capt. Denis OLeary, the com-manding officer of the Ingleside Police

Station, gave his inside

phone number out at thefall Glen Park Associa-tion meeting. If its anemergency, call 911, hetold the crowd of 40 or so

neighbors who filled the eighth-gradeclassroom at St. Johns Elementary.

If its not an emergency, call 553-0123. If its a nagging concern, somethingthat wont go awaycall me, saidOLeary, whose jurisdiction includes

Glen Park. His number is 404-4030.OLeary, a 26-year SFPD veteran,

came to us from Southern Station aspart of a habit the force has of rotatingits captains every few years. Inglesideis OLearys third posting as captain.

He arrived at the Oct. 9 GPA meetingright on the dot and had clearly done hishomework, giving the crowd a rundownof the crimes that had happened withinGlen Park in the past month. It came to

a total of 32 within a half-mile of 100Bosworth St., which was his workingdefinition of the neighborhood. Mostwere smaller property crimes, stolencars, burglaries. There was one shoot-ing, on Addison Street, a dispute overmoney. The person who was shot is OK,OLeary said. Although the suspectedshooter was identified, he ran and hadntbeen caught at last report.

In general, car break-ins are the No. 1

crime in this neighborhood, he reported.Capt. OLeary has created a free Yahooelectronic mailing list to update residents ofthe Ingleside Station territory about crimesin their neighborhood. To receive a copyof the Ingleside Station newsletter, sendan e-mail to: [email protected]

One of the reasons OLeary wastransferred to Ingleside was to encour-age the practice of officers walkingbeats. Currently there are two walkingbeats in the stations jurisdiction, bothon Mission Street. One is centered atGeneva Avenue, the other at CesarChavez Street. Given Glen Parksextremely low crime rate compared withthe rest of the area the station covers,its highly unlikely that a beat officerwill be assigned to Glen Park.

BART UpdateNext on the meeting agenda was

a presentation by BART Director TomRadulovich, who represents Glen Parkon the BART board. His topic: theBART parking lot at Bosworth andArlington streets. He said it isnt actu-ally a lot that BART planned for; it was

just excess land that the regional railsystem owned.

BART is thinking of developing the

lot. But, Radulovich was careful to pointout, exactly what will be built there, ifanything at all, will be the result of avery long, thoughtful process: Werepatient, were looking at this over thelong haul, he said. After years of dealing with issuesaround development, BART has learnedthat its much better to begin with the com-munity and a developer working together.The idea is not to get a developer who

creates a plan which everyone hates, andthen the knives come out, he said.

BART wants to turn the parking lotand the area around the Glen Park sta-tion into something that will benefit thewhole area: People have talked about aplaza, about open spaces. Were lookingat affordable housing. But people dontwant too many more cars, so seniorhousing is a possibility, he said.

But none of this will happen with-

out a great deal of input and study fromthe neighborhood and various City andregional groups, including the CitysPlanning Department, which will doan Environmental Review, and a traf-fic study, he vowed.

Of course some people want nochanges at all: Ive gotten letters tellingme that replacing the parking lot withaffordable senior housing is crazy,Radulovich said.

Another long-term BART plan is tohelp knit the Glen Park BART plaza intothe community. It really only touches theneighborhood now, Radulovich said.

And of course Radulovich acknowl-edged that that process can be an extremelyslow one: The glaciers may melt, we mayrun out of oil, before the City finishes theirenvironmental review plan.

Handicapped ParkingThe final portion of the meeting

addressed the possible need for morehandicapped parking in the village.

There are currently three bluespaces on Bosworth, and one in frontof Citibank. Supervisor Bevan Duftysoffice has received 1520 calls request-ing more spaces be reserved for peoplewith disabilities. Bryan Wo from theCity Department of Parking and Trafficsaid that there were only three possibleoptions for additional handicap-only

parking spaces: NW corner of Diamond and

Chenery, in front of Tygers. NW corner of Diamond and

Kern, but the sidewalk is narrow. SE corner of Wilder and Dia-

mond, but that would require removalof a tree.

Duftys aide, Rachelle McManus, saidtheir office is working on getting the spacein front of Citibank cleared of news racks,which currently pose access problems forpeople who use a wheelchair.

McManus said if neighborhood resi-dents have thoughts or concerns about eitherthe availability of handicapped parking, orhandicapped spaces being blocked, theyshould contact her at [email protected], or 554-6968. n

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duced a small, 40-page photo booklet,Myca of Twin Peaks, our mild-natured

neighbor, which is flying off the shelvesdown at Bird and Beckett.

Coyotes usually run as loners orin loose packs when their food supplyallows. They are notoriously shy ofhumans, while at the same timeasanimal behaviorist Marc Bekoff of theUniversity of Colorado notesthey arestrikingly individualistic with adaptivebehaviors that defy expectations.

Because of the innate individual-ism and flexibility of the coyote family,Mycas rapport with her human friend

grew into a unique relationship. Buteventually, Kessler and her dog startedbumping right into the animal, faceto face, too often, she reports in thebooklet. Myca was getting attached.

Its lucky for this animal that shebefriended someone who views theseparation between humans and the wildwith respect. Kessler may have beensmitten with the charismatic coyote, butentertains no delusions that she is some

kind of coyote whisperer. When she sawthat the dividing line had inched towardher to a degree that seemed unwise, Kes-sler took several steps back.

In recent months as Myca hasmatured, her kangaroo bounces ofglee are diminished, replaced by amore cautious aloofness. And thoughits a kind of heartbreaking long good-bye, Mycas increasing distance fromKessler is exactly what she should be

doing if this coyote is to survive.n

Coyotes are re-colonizing San Fran-

cisco rapidly, according to a newly

released film San FranciscoStill WildAt Heart. The one-hour natural historyfilm chronicles the return of coyotes

to San Francisco, and celebrates the

wildlife that survives and thrives in

our urban landscape. It is available

for purchase at Bird & Beckett Books.

A free screening will be held on Dec. 12

in Socha (cafe on Mission Street across

from Valencia).

CoyoteCONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

8/14/2019 GPN Winter 2007 - 2008

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Winter 2007/2008 Page 9 Glen Park NewsPage 9

Bond Measure Would ProvideBig Bucks for Park UpgradesWhat a no-brainerhow could anyone

be against clean and safeneighborhood parks?Especially residents ofGlen Park, who cherishour wild and wide-openspace with ferocity and

passion?In October the Board of Supervi-

sors unanimously approved the Cleanand Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond forthe February 2008 ballot. Since this

will also be the presidential primaryelection, a significant voter turnout isvirtually guaranteed.

If the ballot measure passes by66.1 percent, we might see some ofour hopes and dreams for Glen Can-yon Park become reality. An early pollshowed 69 percent approval. District8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty has comeout in support of passage. Our park isone of a dozen parks and playgrounds

included in a $185 million general obli-gation bond issue that is summed upin three words: safe, clean and green.Its goals are to fund seismic upgrades;hazardous materials removal; repair ofplaygrounds, pathways, retaining wallsand stairways; replacement and repairof restrooms; replacement of irrigationsystems; and creation of new waterfrontopen space.

Glen Canyon Parks budget for

improvements is $4 million. That com-pares with the Chinese Rec Center at $19.5million and Raymond Kimbell Playgroundin the Western Addition at $2.6 million.

Though $185 million seems like ahuge sum, the numbers get even moremind-boggling. The Department of Rec-reation and Parks estimates that the totalcost of addressing the backlog of all theneeds in the Citys parks is $825 million.Other special properties such as CampMather near Yosemite, various City golfcourses including Sharp Park in Paci-fica, which is owned by San Francisco,Golden Gate park and the Yacht Harboradd another $865 million, for a system-wide total need of $1.7 billion.

The last parks bond was passed in2000 and covered 63 projects; GlenCanyon was bypassed in that one (butnearby Walter Haas Playground got amajor renovation). Prior to that, the lasttime Glen Canyon Park had major work

done was after World War II. If the 2008bond is defeated, it will be 2013 beforeanother parks bond hits the ballot, add-ing five years to the already decades ofdeferred maintenance.

The parks bond issues are part

of the 10-Year Citywide Capital Plan

which ends in 2015, and includes SanFrancisco General Hospital (November2008, $800 million), Crime Lab Reloca-tion (2010, $56 million), Criminal Jus-tice Facility Earthquake Safety (2011,$600 million) and other proposedprojects, totaling over $2 billion.

In 2000 a significant beginning wasmade in breaking through the starvationof the parks resources. But the money ranout before all the projects

were completed. Thathas left a bad lingeringaftertaste with many,lessening their appetiteto spring for yet anotherfix-it bond measure.

In addressing theseconcerns, Rec and Parksis featuring account-ability objectives in itspresentations, to show

that it has learned fromthe past: transparencyand oversight, objec-tive means of selectingprojects, commitmentto projects by name andlocation, realistic costand schedule estimates,regular public reportingof expenditures. To make sure all proj-ects are completed this time, there are

funds set aside within each allocationfor contingencies and cost escalation,factors that doomed many of the proj-ects in the last parks bond. For GlenCanyon Park, this means an additional$1.8 million set aside in addition to the$4 million projects estimate.

In addition and importantly,whereas the 2000 bond raised propertytaxes by $42, the bonds proposed in the10-year plan promise no increase inproperty taxes. The bonds will be issuedas existing bonds are paid off (retired)or the property tax base grows.

How Glen Canyon Park fits intothe proposed scheme is an interestingquestion. An outside consulting groupperformed a capital assessment of parksfacilities. Some of the other parks slatedfor improvement are the Chinese RecCenter, Mission Playground, SunsetPlayground, Mission Dolores Park,Palega Playground and a half-dozen

others. The way the parks qualifiedto make the list was through a scoringprocess, which rated them on the repairsneeded and to what extent they weremulti-use parks and facilities. Thenextra points were given for seismic

byBonnee

Waldstein

The last time

Glen Canyon Park

had major work done

was shortly after

World War II.

The proposed bond

would set aside

at least $5.8 million to

improve the park.

safety need and density. On that basis,the Chinese Rec Center was numberone with a score of 95 and Glen Can-yon Park was number 10 with a scoreof 58. The cutoff was after number 12,Raymond Kimbell Playground, when

the dollar estimate reached $124 mil-lion. Beyond Kimbell, an astounding111 City parks and playgrounds of allsizes will have to wait in line for the2013 bond proposal.

The difference between the $124million allocated for the individual sitesand the total bond of $185 million is forspecial projects. These include water-front parks, restrooms, ball fields, trail

restoration, trees, and

community opportunitygrants. Glen CanyonPark is listed as eligiblefor reforestation and trailfunds, which would be inaddition to the $4 mil-lion specifically allotted.Other monies could besecured if communitygroups apply for andreceive Community

Opportunity Grantfunds for capital repairsand improvements thatare built into the bond.Of the 12 parks and play-

grounds that made the cut,Glen Canyon Park is theonly one that is a regionalpark, as opposed to a

neighborhood park. Rose Marie Dennis,communications and public affairs director

for Rec and Park, says this makes the pro-cess of improving our park more complexthan the other parks. Because it is one ofthe most unique, has one of the oldest reccenters, comprises significant natural areas,is a heavy-duty, multi-use and multi-func-tion park, with day campers, pet owners,rec center users with program needs, and acommunity with many opinions about thevenue, with concerns of erosion, canopy,old facilities, land management, mountingneedsproper planning and expertise isnecessary.

The other parks on the list arealready slated for specific projects, suchas playgrounds, tennis and basketballcourts, and irrigation systems.

Between the time the bond passesand October 2009, when these projectswould be getting underway, there wouldbe a master planning process for GlenCanyon Park that would involve Phase1 and Phase 2 projects, which are now

in the process of being defined. Accord-ing to the bond report prepared by Recand Parks, the work may include repairand/or renovation of the recreation cen-ter, the childrens play area, day camp,courts and field; restoration of roads and

pathways; upgrades to the infrastructureincluding lighting and irrigation, modi-fications to the site to remove barriersand improve accessibility, and overallreconditioning of the park landscape.

Phase 1 projects would be funded

with the 2008 bond; there is no currentprediction about Phase 2. However, it isguaranteed that planning activities willbe funded outside of the bond, and bondmoney will be used exclusively for thespecific projects. Whatever these proj-ects turn out to be, the current schedulehas them completed in January 2013.

Even if passed, the bond will beonly one part of financing the seeminglyendless list of needed improvements.

Other monies may come from OpenSpace funds, the parcel tax, landscapeassessment district and state grants.

In the months leading up to theelection there will be many hot-buttonissues. The waterfront parks componenthas piqued resentment in the neighbor-hoods, who feel the City shouldnt befunding ambitious new parklands (theBlue Greenway is to stretch continu-ously from the Golden Gate Bridge to

the Ball Park), while the bond, even ifpassed, will only scratch the surface ofthe accumulated needs of the neighbor-hood parks and playgrounds.

Despite the great effort put forthto ensure accountability and transpar-ency in the bond, there will be manyskeptics who just will not trust that thistime the job will get done. Then thereis an ongoing turf battle within thecombined system of parks and recre-

ation. Landscape and forestry advocatesfeel shortchanged because of the heavycapital investment and ongoing mainte-nance needed for recreational facilities.Too much emphasis is placed on seismicsafety of structures rather than invest-ment in landscaping, they maintain.Environmental groups might opposethe bond on that basis.

Others make the point that treesare not necessarily eco-friendly in SanFranciscos semi-arid climate. Somedont want freestanding bathroomsin their parks, fearing the upkeep andpotential for attracting undesirables.

Some of these issues and manyothers, no doubt, will be hotly debatedin the Glen Park neighborhood as theelection draws near. We face an ongoingchallenge to stay informed, weigh theissues, and make a choice that is rightfor Glen Park and San Francisco.

For the complete bond report,

visit www.sfgov.org/site/recpark_page.asp?id=64140.

For more information, readGlen Park Advisory Board memberMiriam Moss assessment of the parkbond on Page 16. n

8/14/2019 GPN Winter 2007 - 2008

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ST. FINN BARR CATHOLIC SCHOOL

419 HEARST AVENUE

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94112

(415) 333-1800

www.stfinnbarr.org

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL YEAR 2007-08

FROM KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE SEVEN.

PLEASE CALL FOR A PRIVATE TOUR AND APPLICATION INFO.

YOUR SUNNYSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Glen Park LibraryCONTINUED FROM PAGE1

Lets really wreck his day and sing himHappy Birthday as soon as he getshere, Dufty said.

The library-provided book bags(1,000 were handed out commemoratingthe event) and the fine spread of treatsprovided by local businesses CanyonMarket, Eggettes and Destination Bakingwere stretched out on tables along WilderStreet. Thankfully the streets newly laidasphalt had cooled down, having beenon the ground less than four days. Duftysaid his standing joke is that Glen Parkhad been chosen as the site of the 2010

Winter Olympics so it could be held onthe moguls of Wilder street.

The bottom-scraping, jaw-clenchingride down Wilder was courtesy of a stand-off between the City and the developerof the library/Canyon Market/condosproject, Kieran Buckley. One of themany requirements for green-lighting theproject had been that Buckley completesewer work on Wilder. But the agreementhad left unclear who was responsible for

paving the roadway after the work wasdone. Both sides claimed it was the othersjob, leaving residents to jump and bumptheir way down the street.

Some behind-the-scenes armtwisting by Dufty finally orchestrateda compromise and the road was pavedwith just days to spare.

Buckley was off to the side in thecrowd but Dufty called him out. Therewere times when the whole process ofplanning for this library was problem-atic in the neighborhood, Dufty said.

That was an extremely restrainedphrase for the knock-down, drag-outfight that a small minority of businessowners and residents had waged againstthe project because they worried aboutthe loss of parking. The anti-campaignfeatured mysterious and unattributedsigns posted that used incorrect per-spective to show an enormous towerof a building utterly out of synch withthe block, lawsuits with unnamed back-ers attempting to stop it and numerousimpassioned meetings.

The situation became so nasty thatthe original developer decided to sellout. Into that extremely fraught momentcame a new developer, Buckley, willingto take on a project that even by SanFrancisco blood-sport planning stan-dards was proving to be difficult.

Dufty called Buckley over and said,

I know hes a straight Irish guy, butIm going to give him a hug. Buckley,perhaps more distressed at being in thepublic eye than being hugged by our gaysupervisor, escaped with a sort of halfhug, half handshake.

Soon thereafter the mayorat thetime on the campaign trail for his re-election biddid arrive, about 20 min-utes late, and the crowd dutifully sangHappy Birthday. Newsom responded,Its great to be 30!

City Librarian Luis Herrera spokenext. He first thanked Val and WilhelmTietz, who provided the old libraryspace at 653 Chenery St.: In 1978,when rental property was hard to comeby and we lost our lease, Val and Wil-helm rented us a space at below marketrates. Without them, we wouldnt havehad a library.

Next he thanked tireless Glen Parkvolunteer Nora Dowley (former editor of

the Glen Park News and current ad coor-dinator) for all her work on the librarycommittee. Its her birthday today, saidHerrera. She told me she knew it wouldbe sunny because it never rains on herbirthday. Dowley s prediction was true,because the day turned into a glorious,sunny and warm autumn afternoon.

Herrera told the crowd that ourneighborhood clearly really loves thelibrary. City funds paid only for the

shell, while the interior fixtures, fittingsand furniture had to be purchased withmoney raised through Friends of theLibrary. The goal was $150,000, saidHerrera.

But Brian Wong, who led the cam-paign, told the crowd that when every-thing was added up, the neighborhoodhad actually raised $210,000.

Next Herrera thanked librarianSharon Dezurick, a Glen Park residentwho staffed the old library for years.Dezurick, like Moses, lived through allthe hard years of work to get the newlibrary in place but didnt make it to thePromised Land. Just months before itopened she decided to take a half-timepost at the Mission Branch.

The library got a blessing by thelion dancers of the Jing Mo AthleticAssociation and then the momenteveryone had been waiting for cameand the crowds, following the mayorand Herrera, streamed up the staircaseto view the new facility.

The festivities continued long intothe golden afternoon, with performancesby Cotton Candy Express, Steve Steinand Friends, the Flying Angels ChineseDance Company and the San FranciscoScottish Dancers.

Appropriately, the first book checkedout at the new building was Joan DidionsThe Year of Magical Thinking, said the

librarys newly named manager, DeniseSanderson. All told, 1,085 books and videoswere checked out that day and 1,411 peoplewalked through the doors. In the final twoweeks of October, 302 new library cardswere issued at the branch. n

8/14/2019 GPN Winter 2007 - 2008

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Merchants and Workers byPaulaLevine

Eric Tong, Waiter

Hong Sing Restaurant

2794 Diamond St.

(415) 333-1331

To the ruler, the people are heaven; to

the people, food is heaven.Ancient Chinese proverb

Dont let the environment of HongSing Restaurant fool youwhile it mayseem sparse, edging on the fluorescent-light-cold side, the food is not.

Sweet steamed buns filled withpork sit in the window. A passerby canglimpse the steam rising behind thecounter from the many trays filled with

hot foodsvegetables, fish, chicken andmore, all in tempting combinations.

The food is Cantonese, originatingin the Guangdong area of the PeoplesRepublic of China. Canton, the commonEnglish name for the region, lies about75 miles northwest of Hong Kong. Typi-cally, the Cantonese food tends to besimple in comparison with foods fromother regions, such as Szechuan. Manyof the dishes are steamed or stir-fried,

with little oil. In fact, when my husbandand I eat there we often ask for verylittle oil, no MSG and no sugar, and the

Susan and Hal Tauber,

Proprietors

Glen Park Hardware

685 Chenery St.

(415) 585-5761

The floors are made of wood andsqueak when you walk on them. Thespace is small, crammed to the ceilingwith gadgets, nails, mops, brooms,hooks, screws, bolts, keys. The aislesare one-way only, with space for oneperson going in one direction, so if youhave to ask Hal or Susan Tauber to findan item for you, you always have to letthem lead the way.

A 2001 History Channel programon the history of hardware stores called

them the lifeblood of towns in Amer-icaalways having what was needed tosurvive, or knowing how and where toobtain it. They were described as placeswhere people could find the elementsthat hold our world together and theplace where we go when things fallapart.

Glen Park Hardware has filled theseneeds for the neighborhood since about1963, when the store was first owned by

Ed Josephson. Hal and Susan Tauberbought the business in 1978.

Hal Tauber was born and raised inSan Francisco; Susan lived and wentto school in Boston. They had to leavethe continent and travel to Israel for

their respective junior years abroad inorder to meet and fall in love whilestudying in Jerusalem. After finishingschool, they married and Susan movedto San Francisco. Both studied teach-ing and planned to work in the schoolsystem.

The year 1978 was a hard timefor teachers, said Susan. There wereno teaching jobs and both private andpublic schools were cutting back andlaying off teachers.

This was the time of Proposition 13,the initiative that restricted increases inproperty taxes which, in turn, greatlyaffected public funding for schools andlibraries.

We were living here in Glen Park.

There were no teaching jobs. In fact Halhad a regular teaching job in the summerschool program with the school district,and then summer school was cancelled.The hardware store went up for sale. EdJosephson was 65 and wanted to retire.So we bought it.

Susan commented on the hardwarestore in ways that resonated with thehistoric role these stores have had inthe history of the country: Although

we cant carry large equipment becauseof our small space, our role has beenone of convenience. We help people[get] through their projects. Whensomethings broken, people want toget it taken care of and get on with

life. Although we arent professionalplumbers or carpenters, we are expe-rienced in problem-solving from a laypoint of view.

Customers benefit from the Tau-bers patience, cultivated during thetheir years of teachers training, and

their ability to describe the functionand proper use of the diverse, oftenunfamiliar, items in their stock. Ifsomeone needs something they donthave, they can often order it fromtheir supplier, or suggest an another

food always comes exactly to order.While most people are familiar with

pot stickers, egg rolls or Cantonese worwonton soup, Eric Tong, one of the manywonderful people on the staff there, sug-gests that patrons try other, less familiar

dishes, such as the Hong Sing specialribs. David and I, being West Coastvegetarians, love the steamed gingerfish as well as the braised tofu and stir-fried pea greens. During Chinese NewYear, we look forward to the New Yearspecial, Buddhas Delight (lo hon jai), avegetarian dish with a wonderful range oftextures and tastes with ingredients thatinclude gingko nuts, noodles, carrots,mushrooms and lotus seeds. Not quite as

good as traveling to Canton, but close.Born in Canton, Eric emigrated to

San Francisco in 1981 while in his early20s. His father arrived first, establishinghimself and then sending for the rest ofhis family.

Eric studied English, and beganworking at Hong Sing in1991, aboutfour years after the restaurant openedits doors. With his longevity, knowledgeof food and the neighborhood, Eric has

been a part of the Glen Park communityfor many years. He and his family livein San Francisco. n

source.We enjoy being here and appreci-

ate being supported by the communitywhen they come to a local store, Susansaid. We have a great bunch of cus-tomers.

And, the Tauber family leaves a

small carbon footprint getting to andfrom work. We love the commute,said Susan. Its a block-and-a-halfwalk. n

See Hal and Susan when they first

opened the store, pictured on page 22.

8/14/2019 GPN Winter 2007 - 2008

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Recently, former Vice President Al Gorespoke at the offices of the Alliance forClimate Protection in Palo Alto to

acknowledge his receipt of the NobelPeace Prize. Yet it might have been just

as appropriate if he hadheld his news conferencein Glen Canyon. Nearly140 years ago, Glen Can-yon played a foundational

role in the accumulation of wealth thatin the 20th century would become theworlds most important prize of peace,science and literature. Alfred Nobel,

father of the high-explosive industryand philanthropic provider of the NobelFoundation, personally licensed the firstdynamite factory in the United Statesthe Giant Powder Companyright herein our beautiful canyon.

In an amazing paradox, nitroglyc-erin is not only the explosive chemi-cal in dynamite but is also used as adrug in the treatment of chest pain ordiscomfort known as angina pectoris.

Nitroglycerin was first discovered byAscanio Sobrero of Turin, Italy in 1846.Noting its unpredictable volatility andpower and its propensity to cause vio-lent, debilitating headaches, Sobreroshelved nitroglycerin as being too dan-gerous and unsuitable for commercialmanufacture. Ironically, the medicinalvalue of nitroglycerin was being real-ized in parallel. By the end of the 1870s,the ability of nitroglycerin to relieve theattacks of chest pain associated withangina pectoris had been documentedin the medical literature, making it oneof the oldest drugs in our modern medi-cine cabinet.

In the eyes of Victorians duringthe Industrial Revolution, Nature wasto be conquered if one was to snatch herwealth of valuable ores and transport hertreasures via more expeditious overlandroutesthrough mountains rather thanover or around them. Black powder, first

developed in China as early as the tenthcentury, had been the mainstay of blast-ing and artillery. But with the explosionof progress in the new Industrial Age,black powder was quickly losing its effi-ciency and advantage. The conquest ofNature needed a more powerful tool.

The young Alfred Nobel of Stock-holm, Sweden took up research into theexplosive properties of nitroglycerin in1859. After resolving problems in the

manufacturing process, Nobel directedhis attention to the most sure and com-plete detonation of nitroglycerin, at leastfive times as powerful as black powder.Nitroglycerin burned when exposedto flame but the heat was never hot

enough to cause an explosion. Nobeldiscovered that his blasting oil wasmost powerful when exposed to a flame

under pressure (forinstance, pouredinto a bore hole)and if ignited withan initiating agent.His 1867 patent fora blasting cap con-taining mercuryfulminate as theinitiator markedthe beginning of

the high-explosiveindustry.

Nobel experi-enced immediatecommercial andfinancial successwith his inven-tion. Yet, he wassoon reviled as thedemon of death.Hundreds of people

around the worldperished whileunknowingly trav-eling or coming inclose contact withshipments of thevolatile liquid thatseemed to spontane-ously explode with the slightest impact.Nitroglycerin was quickly banned from

all types of conveyance. While research-ing how to better stabilize the liquid fortransport, Nobel accidentally discovered

that a Germanclay called kie-selguhr (a soft,chalk-like rock)could absorbthree times itsweight of blast-ing oil, creatinga putty-likesubstance thatcould be packed

into cartridgesand topped offwith a blast-ing cap. Nobelcalled his safetyi n n o v a t i o ndynamite.

While henever visitedC a l i f o r n i a ,Alfred Nobel

was attractedby the statesentrepreneurialspirit and new-found wealth.Nobel licensedhis new inven-tion to Julius

Bandmann of San Francisco, the brotherof a close European business associate.

Following a demonstration of dynamitein the blasting of a tunnel for the oldBay View railroad (likely the first use

of dynamite in the United States), Band-mann incorporated the Giant PowderCompany in August 1867.

Giant Powder Company leasedproperty in the unpopulated outlandsof Glen Canyon (then known variouslyas Rock House, Rock Canyon, RockRanch or Rock Gulch) from RanchoSan Miguel resident L.L. Robinson,who also served as Giants first presi-dent. While dynamite was relatively

stable, nitroglycerin was not, and stor-age was mandated to be as far awayfrom populated areas as possible. Thefactory began manufacturing dynamitein March 1868, a full two months beforethe official patent for dynamite wasgranted to Nobel.

During the first year of produc-tion by mills in Rock Canyon andEurope, the total production of dyna-mite increased from 11 tons to 78 tons.

Production at the Giant mill in RockCanyon continued without a hitch for15 months. Then, on Friday, Nov. 26,1869, at about 6:45 p.m., an explosionrocked the one-acre complex, killingthe chemist and his teamster driver andinjuring nine others. The exact cause ofthe disaster was never determined.

Because the population of San

Explosive Revelation: Glen Canyon Ties to the Nobel Prize

byEvelynRose

Glen Canyon played a

foundational role in the

accumulation of wealth that

would become the worlds

most important prize of

peace, science and literature.

Alfred Nobel, father of the

high-explosive industry and

philanthropic provider of the

Nobel Foundation, personally

licensed the first dynamite

factory in the United States

right here in our

beautiful canyon.

Islais Creek, pre-1880. Courtesy Emma Bland Smith

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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Francisco was advancing closer toRock Canyon, Giant purchased 100acres in the sand dunes south of GoldenGate Park, an area now bounded byKirkham and Ortega streets, and 20thand 32nd avenues. Manufacture beganthere in February 1870 and continueduntil another explosion destroyed thatcomplex in January 1879, killing four.The factory then moved to FlemingPoint on the Berkeley bayside (nowthe site of Golden Gate Fields) andbegan operation in the fall of 1879.Tragically, three more deadly explo-

sions would occur on this site by 1892,killing a total of 66 workers. The plantmoved to its final location on San PabloBay at Point Pinole, now occupied byEast Bay Regional Parks. The GiantPowder Company was acquired by theAtlas Powder Company in 1915.

Dynamite fundamentally changedthe way engineering projects wereplanned and executed, quickly becomingthe most popular explosive in the world.

It was more powerful, more efficient andless costly than traditional methods.Dynamite had become essential forcivil projects that tamed mountains forroadways and railways, captured waterfor major metropolitan areas, removed

trees and boulders for agriculture, andbored deeper into the earth for mining.It was used to help clear rubble after the1906 earthquake and conflagration inSan Francisco, and is still used to fightoil rig fires. Nobelhad changed theworld and, inso doing, hadbecome an enor-mously wealthyman. Ironically, hedeveloped anginapectoris late in lifeand was prescribedthe medicinal form

of nitroglycerin forinternal use. Herefused, remem-bering all too wellthe debilitatingheadaches of hisyounger yearswhile working with the more potentexplosive. He died December 10, 1896,following a severe stroke.

Nobel was a pacifist throughout his

life. He despised the fact that the worldidentified him as an immoral man whoprofited from the development of vio-lent tools capable of death and injury.Near the end of his life, having nodescendents, he decided to leave his

wealth in the form of a fund that wouldaward prizes to those who, duringthe preceding year, shall have con-ferred the greatest benefit on mankind in chemistry, physics, medicine

and literature. Healso specified anaward to theperson who shallhave done themost or the bestwork to promotefraternity betweennations, for theabolition or reduc-tion of standing

armies and forthe holding andpromotion ofpeace congresses, the awardfor which Gorewas honored.

The Office of Historic Preservationof the California Department of Parksand Recreation designated the firstlocation of the Giant Powder Com-

pany in Glen Canyon as CaliforniaHistorical Landmark Number 1002in May 1991. The description can beviewed at http://www.ceres.ca.gov/geo_area/counties/San_Francisco/landmarks.html.

Newspaper accounts of the Novem-ber 1869 explosion note the location tobe near the base of a large hill and near the old county road to SanJose (now Interstate 280) and

nearly half way between St. Marys Col-lege and the Industrial School, (now St.Marys Park off Mission Street and CityCollege, respectively). InHistory of theExplosives Industry in America, firstpublished in 1927, the location of thefactory is narrowed to the location of thecurrent Glen Park recreation center andplayground, in the Park Terrace sec-tion west of Burnside Avenue betweenChenery Street and Bosworth Street

, a description that would place it inthe baseball field. A grainy photographthat accompanies this proposed locationmakes it impossible to decipher its truelocation. However, the authors purportthe location is substantiated by a May1927 letter from F.W. Wallace of SanFrancisco, who had made several tripsto the factory in his youth.

A recent episode of Eye on theBay (CBS5) noted the plaque for the

landmark could not be located. Whilepermission was granted by the SanFrancisco Landmarks PreservationAdvisory Board to allow the nomina-tion of City property as a landmark inJanuary 1991, a concerted effort wasnever undertaken to place a plaque atthe physical location. According to theState Office of Historic Preservation (asof May 2006), an official plaque couldbe placed at the site for $2,875 plus taxand a $100 freight charge. It is not clearwhat is included besides the plaque,including installation, and whether itincludes signage directing passersbyto the area. It also not does include thecost of plaque maintenance.

Our cultural values have changeddramatically in the past 140 yearsand we generally now want to protectrather than tame nature. It is clear howthe inventions of Alfred Nobel and theaccumulation of wealth that ensued

established the most prestigious awardin the worldthe Nobel Prize. How-ever, given the nature of the history ofdynamite, some residents may considerthe local association our own inconve-nient truth. Community discussion iswarranted and, in the end, the residentsof Glen Park should be responsible forthe decision of whether placement of aplaque is appropriate. n

Evelyn Rose, a pharmacist and hobbyist

historian, is a longtime resident of Glen

Park and Diamond Heights. She also

volunteers as a docent at Muir Woods

National Monument.

The state Office of

Historic Preservation

designated the first

location of the

Giant Powder Company

in Glen Canyon

as a California Historical

Landmark in 1991.

NobelCONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

Glen Canyon Park, pre-1880. Courtesy Emma Bland Smith

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The first Glen Park Newsletter.

sentatives to make public safety a top

priority. Lip service wont do.

We need bold initiatives, appropri-

ate resources and a commitment from

top City officials to create a commu-

nity where people can feel safe walking

down the streetday or night.

And as people who live and work

Note from EditorsCONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

Join us, as we settle into the beautifulnew Glen Park Branch Library, for anew series of monthly book discus-sions. Our Adult Librarian Kate Brownchose the December selection, Gilead:A Novel, by Marilynne Robinson, rec-

ommended by readers as particularlyappropriate for the holiday season. In1956, toward the end of Rev. JohnAmes life, he begins a letter to hisyoung son, an account of himself andhis forebears, including his pacifistpreacher father and fighting abolition-ist grandfather.

This December we also are start-ing Winter Reading Programs for bothchildren and adults. Sign up for these

programs any time; they will run Dec.15Jan. 19.Kids of all ages can read to earn a

small prize, and one lucky reader will

win a polar bear puppet. Participatingadults can also win prizes: A $20 giftcertificate from a local merchant willbe awarded to each of the three winninggrownups.

Glen Park Branch2825 Diamond Street

San Francisco, CA 94131355-2858

Hours

Tuesday 106Wednesday 128

Thursday 17Friday 16

Saturday 1-6

Denise Sanderson is the new Glen

Park Branch Librarian.

Check It Out at the Library!

in Glen Park, we have to remember thatthe concept of being a good neighborgoes a long way toward creating astrong community.

On that note, we at the Glen ParkNews and our publisher, the Glen ParkAssociation, wish you good holidaycheer and a happy new year. We lookforward to covering the unfolding lifeof our neighborhood in 2008. n

were still on the loose.The 27-year-old victim told police

that on Saturday, Nov. 10, around 5:30

p.m., she was assaulted by two suspectson Lippard Street, between Chenery andBosworth streets, as she was walkingto her car from the Glen Park BARTstation.

She said she first was approachedby a female suspect who demanded herpurse, slapped her and knocked her tothe ground. The victim said she thenwas approached by a man who rapedher. She later told police that the same

man raped her again five days laterinside the garage at her Excelsior Dis-trict home.

It wasnt until two days later thatshe first reported the two incidentsto police. She even worked witha Police Department sketch artist.Detailed drawings of the two suspects

Recanted AssaultCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 were widely distributed to the media,

and police asked for the publics helpin tracking down the culprits.

But the womans version ofevents raised a number of red flags

with authorities. The SFPDs sexcrimes detail kept digging. Thealleged victim eventually told policeshe made up the story. She could becharged with a misdemeanor crimefor filing a false police report.

OLeary said that while he ofcourse was thankful that such hei-nous crimes never occurred, thefalse claims took up a lot of policeresources and unleashed worry in

Glen Park, where violent streetcrimes are not too common.

This is just an unfortunate circum-stance, OLeary said.

He said that for the time being thefoot patrols he assigned to Diamond andChenery streets in downtown Glen Parkwill continue. n

Glen Park AssociationCommittee Volunteers

The City is moving ahead on review of Glen Park

Community Plan, transportation changes around

the BART station, and plans in Glen Park Canyon.We are looking for neighbors interested in work-

ing on the Associations Planning and Zoning,

Transportation and Parking, Recreation and Park,

and other committees.

We need your help and interest!

Please e-mail [email protected],

or call Michael Rice at 337-9894.

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Glen Canyon Park needs some TLC andI am happy to report that, with your sup-

port, help is on the horizon.At 66.6 acres, Glen Canyon is an

enormous and uniquenatural City treasurethat serves as a popu-lar neighborhood andregional parka hubfor youth and adult rec-reation, a pre-school, a

gathering place for dog owners and animportant habitat for plants and wild-

life.The parks poor irrigation, heavily

used fields and aged facilities (both ofthe buildings in the canyon are morethan 40 years old) have left the parkin need of more than $20 million inrepairs.

With the 2000 Park Bond, webegan renovating important facilitiesin District 8: Eureka Valley RecreationCenter was lovingly refurbished, Upper

Noe Rec Center is slated to reopen in2008 and Duboce Parks Harvey MilkRec Center is now under construction.

Weve proven that park bonds are aneffective tool to repair and rehabilitateour beloved parks and recreation facili-ties.

In February 2008 San Franciscovoters will consider Proposition A, a$185 million bond measure to repairand restore our neighborhood parksthroughout San Francisco. Thankfully,Glen Canyon Park is included in thisbond measure.

With Prop. A, Glen Canyon will

receive $5.8 million to begin address-ing the parks enormous capital needs.

These funds can be used to start work onthe recreation center and the day camp,or to replace the childrens playground,renovate the tennis courts and athleticfield, or to improve core infrastructurelike lighting, irrigation and landscap-ing.

This $5.8 million wont pay foreverything. But it will be a great starttoward fixing up this treasure and willhelp spur additional state grants and

private donations. It is also possiblethat I can secure annual City fundingas we agree upon the blueprint for thisproject.

Glen Canyon is also on a list of pos-sible open space parks to receive Prop.A funds for trail restoration.

If Prop. A is approved in February,the Rec and Park Department will hostcommunity meetings later in 2008 tohear from neighbors and park users

about which improvements shouldoccur first. Ballot passage requires atwo-thirds majority or more voting infavor.

I look forward to working with theGlen Park community to ensure thatwe invest in the Glen Canyon Park forfuture generations. I believe that Prop.A is a great first step. n

Supervisor Bevan Dufty represents

Glen Park and adjacent neighbor-

hoods in District 8 on the Board of

Supervisors.

Digging the Dirt:

News from the Garden Club

bySusanEvans

The art of being wise is knowing what tooverlook. So sayeth thewise gardener in latefall, who uses her or histiny snatches of freetime to prepare for nextyears planting.

Begin by making a list of what youneed to buy more of, what youve beensalivating over, what needs cutting backor pulling. This will help you be strong

when the plant catalogs start coming. Itgives you direction in the garden, too,when its hard to remember exactly whatyou wanted to do. A list confirms yourcommitment when it comes time to yankout that mature but under-performingplant. The holes left from pulling canbe filled with your special soil mix andsome compost.

This is the time to depend on thetextural interest of your still-green

plants. To make arrangements in a vase,you may have to buy a flower or two butyou can use your own greenery.

It also may be easier to have a senseof the feng shui in your garden at thistime of year.

Its the energy (life force, or chi)that flows throughout the space. Whenrebalancing the feng shui, change onlyone thing at a time, to see how you feelabout it. Its a lot about your own psy-

chology as well as the feel of the land.Heres an example: place a garden

bench where you dont have a fussyplant, like flowers. A bench can bemore serene to sit and think, appreciat-ing flowers from afar. It is not usuallyrelaxing to pick plants, or deadheadflowers or berate yourself for their soilnon-prep.

Feng shui is a great justificationto buy or rearrange things such as

white flowers, metal garden chairs or abarbeque. It is also a reason (as if youneed one) for garden art, such as mir-rors, plaques, wind chimes or fountains.This is especially true in Glen Park,where your garden is like a room ofyour house.

Which brings us to what is on every-ones mind nowgifts. Nursery giftcards are a good option. Or a speciallyplanted tray with paperwhites is wel-

come at this time of year. And a pot witha spring bulb mix (muscari and daffodilsare a good choice) for a January-Febru-ary bloom is a lovely way for your gift tocreate memories that last. n

Susan Evans is a member of the

Glen Park Garden Club, which wel-

comes new members. E-mail her at

[email protected].

Memo from City Hall

bySupervisor

BevanDufty

Bookstore on the moveA horde of jazz fiends and bibliophiles descended on the old Bird andBeckett store on Diamond Street over the September 2223 weekend andformed a human-and-pickup-chain to shift the stores contents to its newincarnation at 653 Chenery St. Photo by Michael Waldstein

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Perspectiveby

MiriamMoss

Back in PlayAs part of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Departments

Capital Improvement Program, Sunnyside Playground underwent acomplete renovation. The park was reopened with a Ribbon CuttingCeremony on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007. Getting the playground andreplacing the parks old, decrepit play area took almost 10 years,

including a grueling fight between local dog owners and parents

over where the new playground would be sited in the park. But acompromise was finally reached, funding found and the playground,finally, opened to the joy of children throughout the area. We hopeit doesnt take so long to rebuild Glen Parks playground when the

time comes. Photo by Liz Mangelsdorf

In 2000 San Francisco passed a bond

measure to fix all parks to variousdegrees over 10 years, the same yearthe bonds for libraries was passed.

Glen Park work was to have beenstarted in year four of the bond, 2004.

But due to politicalmaneuvering, projectoverruns and misman-agement, Glen Park hasnot seen a single pennyof the money. This is

in spite of the fact that an assessmentdone back in 2001 states that the GlenCanyon Recreation Center is in poorcondition and should be replaced.

Seismic concerns are among thetop criteria for renovation projects.Among the many problems of the GlenPark Rec Center is serious seismicinstability. In a major earthquake, theRec Centers chimney likely wouldcollapse, along with the balcony in the

auditoriumand this is a building thathas been designated as a shelter duringa major earthquake.

Other problems include asbestos,lead paint, dry rot, lack of accommo-dation for the disabled under the Ameri-cans With Disabilities Act (ADA), 75-year-old bathrooms that are down aflight of stairs, and a dangerously oldelectrical system. Not only that, but thebuilding sits on a partial landfill and thefoundation is sinking into Islais creek,which is buried beneath it in a culvert.

This does not even address the need fora new playground, because the current playstructure is built of arsenic-treated woodfrom the 1970s. Then there are the erosionproblems on the athletic field, issues withthe Silvertree building site and all the ADArequirements set by federal law.

You would think that we would be Num-ber One on the list for money with this newbond proposal, but you would be wrong.

Again through another series of

political maneuvers and wrangling,the ranking for money in this proposedbond is as follows:

Palega Rec Center: $21.2 million,Chinese Rec Center: $14.2 millionMission Dolores Park: $13.2 millionSunset Playground $13.7 millionLafayette Park: $10.2 millionMission Playground: $7.5 millionCayuga Playground: $7.3 million

Glen Canyon Park: $5.8 millionMcCoppin Square: $5.3 millionCabrillo Playground: $4.5 millionFulton Playground: $4.2 million

Every site butGlen Park is beinggiven enough money to fix up theirentire site without any phase-in.

All we can do is bank the money.The proposed $5.8 million for Glen Parkcan only be spent to finalize a previ-

ously proposed master plan and willnot finance a single improvement to thecanyon. Actual physical improvementswould not even be considered unlessand until a third bond, which is to be puton the ballot in 2012 or beyond. Thereis no guarantee it will pass or that wewill be given the money we need to fixup our site.

Clearly, every park needs accessible,clean and safe bathrooms. But thats not atissue, the price tag is. Buildings that neednew bathrooms, such as Glen Park s RecCenter, wont get them because the cost ofthe bathrooms would trigger all the otherupgrades required by ADA laws.

We need more time to re-access Rec.and Parks choices. In my opinion, a betterbond can be put on the June ballot. n

Miriam Moss heads the Glen Park Advi-

sory Board, which prods Rec and Park

to do better by our park.

Park Bond on February Ballot:

What It Means For Glen Park

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Winter 2007/2008 Page 17 Glen Park NewsPage 17 Glen Park News

Recently Glen Park has become a

bona fide destination for foodies fromthe neighborhood andbeyond. Now couplesand groups can be seenwalking through thevillage in their dressycasuals, alongside the

locals in their flip-flops getting theirforty bucks from the ATM..

Lest we become too insulated in ourcozy restaurant cocoon, I recommend we

venture out, less than a mile from Dia-mond and Bosworth streets, to a differentworld that does not (yet) exist in GlenPark. That world is Indochina, specificallyCambodia, at a little place called AngkorBorei on the quiet part of Mission Street(Angkor for the temple Angkor Wat;borei, meaning city in Cambodian).

While some Glen Parkers have fre-quented Angkor Borei for a long time,it is better known by the Bernal crowd.Angkor Borei has been family ownedand operated for the past 20 years byTom Probpan and Chinhan Yat. The twoare so cheerful and friendly, they greettheir regulars with a warm hug.

Look at Cambodia on a map and itsapparent what makes its cuisine so inter-esting. It carries influences from Thailand,Vietnam, China, India (curry) and France(from days of colonial domination).

Yat explains the essence of Cam-bodian cuisinefirst fresh vegetables,lightly cooked or raw; second, herbs andspices, the same as Thai but lightertamarind, basil, cilantro, cumin, garlic,turmeric, lime leaf and galinga (similarto ginger root), to name just a few. Thenthere are the dipping sauces, which layeryet another dimension onto the fascinat-

Homelessness. You read about it everyday in the papers, hear

about it on the eveningnews, witness it on thestreets and wonder howit became so prevalent,hoping like the dickens

that someone will find a solution.We intellectually understand the

origins and acknowledge that mentalillness, substance abuse, economicsand poverty are the core elements of thephenomenon. Emotionally, we simply

wish it would go away.We give it a name which hasevolved into a political mantra homelessness.

Although the reality is that thebattle that those of us on the frontlineof the issue wage is societys struggleto promote, restore and maintain humandignity andwith assistanceself-determination, we refer to it as if it isnothing more than another agenda itemat the Board of Supervisors meeting orpart of the mission statement of yetanother nonprofit.

Glen Park, Bernal Heights and NoeValley have become something of ahaven for a small but significant numberof homeless people. With the exceptionof the myriad enclaves which periodi-cally appear near the Bernal Cut andthe hillside which separates ArlingtonStreet from San Jose Avenue, Glen Parkhas avoided the large encampments thathave challenged the quality of life ofother neighborhoods.

Nevertheless, I am seeing andspeaking to more street denizens than Ihave in recent memory. Although someof my encounters are the result of a callfor service from a resident, most of mycontact has been self-initiated.

Many Glen Park residents haveasked me what the nature of theirresponse should be when they encoun-

ter people in the neighborhood whoseappearance indicates they are without apermanent residence and/or may haveserious mental health or substanceabuse issues. In a city of citizenswhose altruism is so close to the skin,there is a definite reluctance to call thepolice, the assumption being that wewill arrest, cite, harass and generallymake life even more difficult for thesefolks. That is neither the intent of our

response nor, generally, the result of ourintervention.

When I make the acquaintanceof an individual who is, for instance,drinking or camping in public, sleep-ing on private property, dumping trash,

aggressively panhandling or appears tobe mentally or physically compromised,

I have the right and responsibility toidentify that person and learn the natureof their prior police contactif any.

Often these checks will reveal pastdrug arrests and warrants for minorquality-of-life violations for which Ihave the discretion to advise or arrest,likely the former. Less often, the back-ground check indicates the person hasa history of theft or violent crime, oris a sex-registrant out of compliance.

Obviously, my discretion then narrowsand my options decrease.The above is not to be mistaken

for a profile of homeless people, who Ifind mirror the rest of society: some arecriminals, most arent. The beneficialresult of learning about my detaineesis that I now can offer them servicesthrough the appropriate source, be itvoluntary or not. Warrants give me theleverage to convince the minor viola-tors to accept my offer of social servicesor move to a location where they canexercise their own options. On the rareoccasions where my contact reveals adangerous criminal, I have an obvioussolution for their current lack of lodg-ing, as well as maintaining the neigh-borhoods right to safety and peace ofmind.

When confronted with a personwho expresses suicidal, or even homi-cidal, intentions, or who is unable tocare for their basic needs in any man-ner, I then am compelled to requesta mental-health detention for theirsafety. Many times this is their firstopportunity to have a potential men-tal illnesses diagnosed and start on acourse of medication and therapy. Atleast, thats my hope.

Whatever the persons history, allpolice officers have a list of serviceswe can recommend, and contacts which

we can make, to help the individual.Our minimum training in San Fran-cisco exceeds any police departmentin the country and many of us, myselfincluded, have taken extensive coursesin crisis intervention, mental illness rec-ognition and homeless outreach. Whileothers are discussing the issue, policeofficers are usually the first resourcethes

GPN Winter 2007 - 2008

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